DraftKings THE PLAYERS Championship preview

The PGA TOUR continues its Florida swing this week for THE PLAYERS Championship. Iconic TPC Sawgrass will be the host and measures as a 7,256-yard par 72 with Bermuda grass greens. There are water hazards on 17-of-18 holes, meaning there will be plenty of chaos in store this week. A highly prestigious event on the TOUR schedule, the field this week yet again is loaded with 43 of the world’s top 50 golfers set to tee it up.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry]

GOLFERS TO CONSIDER

Max Homa ($9,900)

Homa very quietly posted a T14 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and it could have been even better if his putter cooperated even a little bit. He lost 2.94 strokes on the greens at Arnie’s Place, which was the first time in 2023 he’s lost strokes putting for an entire event. Homa’s ball-striking was otherworldly, however, basically lapping the field on approach, where he gained a whopping 7.9 strokes over his four rounds. In addition, he gained strokes off-the-tee in each of his four rounds as well.

It’s highly likely that the poor putting performance was a blip and not a trend, considering Homa ranks sixth in this field in SG: Putting over his past 36 and 24 rounds, while sitting third over his past 16.

Homa has played TPC Sawgrass twice now, and after a missed cut in his first start, he posted a T13 last year. His pinpoint iron play should help him avoid the myriad of water hazards littered throughout the course, and he currently ranks fifth on the PGA TOUR this season in par-4 birdie or better percentage and 10th in bogey avoidance. Homa’s game sets up perfectly for TPC Sawgrass, and considering he’s already posted a win and a pair of top-three finishes in 2023, he absolutely has to be on the shortlist to take down this event.

Sandwiched between Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay on DraftKings this week, the six-time PGA TOUR winner may go a bit overlooked in this spot, but his upside is as high as any golfer on the slate.

Will Zalatoris ($8,800)

Zalatoris was one of the more popular options last week at Bay Hill, and despite making the cut he largely disappointed with a T53. Much like Max Homa, this was due to his short game rather than his ball-striking. Zalatoris lost 3.4 strokes putting and 1.7 strokes around the green at Bay Hill, so we can completely disregard it due to how volatile short-game play can be.

The good news is that Zalatoris has taken a serious liking to TPC Sawgrass over his short career. He’s played this event twice now, making the cut both times while finishing T26 and 21st, respectively, over the past two years. Zalatoris has averaged 1.68 SG: Tee-to-Green per round at this classic Pete Dye design in his eight career rounds, which ranks him fourth in the field.

Zalatoris is too talented to not go right back to this week, especially since DraftKings dropped his salary by $800. He ranks fourth in both SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Ball-Striking over his past 48 rounds in this field, and when you combine that with his course history and price drop, he simply makes too much sense this week.

Corey Conners ($7,400)

There is nothing better than these major-type fields because it means we get elite ball-strikers like Conners sitting at just $7,400. After a couple of subpar performances at the WM Phoenix Open and Genesis, Conners bounced back nicely last week at Bay Hill with a T21, while gaining 6.8 strokes ball-striking in the process.

This is nothing new for the Canadian, considering he ranks fifth in that department over his past 48 rounds in this field, trailing only Zalatoris, Finau, Scheffler and McIlroy. He’s another golfer that’s shown he can get around TPC Sawgrass, having made the cut at THE PLAYERS in all three of his starts with a T26 and solo-seventh place finish in that stretch.

There’s obviously no such thing as a safe play this week with all the water hazards, but Conners’ history here has shown us that he’s largely avoided the blow-up rounds that have plagued almost everybody else, and there’s something to be said for that. He will likely be quite popular in all contest types this week due to this ridiculously cheap salary, but Conners is one of the best points-per-dollar plays on the entire slate.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st + ToC Semifinal Entry]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.